The Open Arms complex has cared for hundreds of African orphans who have lost their parents and have no other relatives to turn to.

But with running costs and maintenance fees increasing, organisers are finding it increasingly difficult to keep the buildings in a state of good repair.

Neville Bevis, a former Harrogate resident who moved to Malawi to run the Open Arms project with his late wife Rosemarie, said that while plans for a second Harrogate orphanage is in the pipeline, the first priority must be to improve the current site in Blantyre.

Mr Bevis said: "There will undoubtedly be a Harrogate House 2 but our immediate focus is on the original infant home itself.

"Everything is being done by hand - we don't have a single machine, not even a cement mixer. Bricks are acquired locally, but cement and other building materials have to travel about 150 miles to the site.

"The lorries are old and decrepit and often break down. Deliveries can sometimes take two days there and back.

"But the new site is very close to the main road so we hope to be able to attract a lot of visitors and attention. Rosemarie's dream is on its way to fruition."

In 2003, Harrogate Advertiser readers helped raise £25,000 in six months to build the original infants' home. Now, with the need for more care facilities further north in the country, we are proud to support the new campaign to Raise the Roof for Harrogate House 2.

The new site will be located in Mangochi, 150 miles north of the original infants' home in Blantyre - the largest city in Malawi and the capital of the country's Southern Region.

Mangochi has a population about one third that of Harrogate and is a township in the Southern Region of the country.

It was once an important slaving centre but now lies on the flood-plain for Lake Malawi in an area that has been decimated by AIDS, poverty and a lack of infrastructure.